United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Other

William Todd Hodges

David D North

William J Fredericks

Paul M Rothhaar

Mark D Moore

Zachary R Johns

Mark J Aull

William M Langford

Ronald C Busan

Christopher T Laws

Sandy R Webb

A rotary combustion engine, such as a Wankel engine has a rotor with a rotor pocket for receiving air-fuel mixture that is combusted therein to propel the rotor within the housing. Rotor air channels extend from an inlet that is configured in the compression chamber to an outlet configured in the rotor pocket to deliver compressed air-fuel mixture to said rotor pocket. The rotor air channels have an open portion, open on the face of the rotor and a closed portion extending as a conduit into the rotor to the rotor pocket. Fuel may be delivered to the rotor air channel from a rotor-gear fuel conduit that receives fuel from the fixed gear or a side-wall fuel conduit that receives fuel from a housing side-wall injector through a side-wall fuel transfer port. Rotor air channels may be configured to direct air-fuel streams to intercept one another to enhance combustion.

Rotary combustion engine with integrated multistage fuel system

A rotary engine has a rotor with a rotor pocket for receiving air-fuel mixture that is combusted therein to propel the rotor within the housing. The rotary engine may have one or more intake spray injectors that spray fuel into the rotor pocket and onto the rotor face within the intake chamber to effectively cool the rotor pocket and rotor face. An air channel extension of the rotor pocket may be configured in the housing and/or in the rotor to extend from the compression chamber into the ignition-combustion chamber to relieve some pressure in the trailing compression chamber of a rotor face to minimize negative work. A supplemental air-fuel conduit may be configured to supply high-pressure gas from the compression chamber to an ignition injector(s). A thrust nozzle may be configured within the rotor pocket to direct combustion gases therethrough to propel the rotor and increase efficiency.

A turbine engine system utilizes one or more augmented combustion modules to produce an exhaust that is fed into the turbine portion of the engine and wherein power is produced by the augmented combustion module for use to drive the main shaft and/or for auxiliary purposes. An augmented combustion module is configured between the compressor and the turbine of the engine and receives compressed air from the compressor and ignites an air/fuel-mixture to turn a shaft that can be used to produce power. The shaft may be coupled with an electrical power generator, a pump, a hydraulic or pneumatic power generator and/or power conversion or transmission devices and/or coupled with the main shaft of the turbine engine. The power from a power generator may be stored in a battery, hydraulic accumulator or pneumatic accumulator and may be used to power auxiliary electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic devices.

Turbine engine system utilizing an augmented combustion module

Systems, methods, and devices provide a vehicle, such as an aircraft, with rotors configured to function as a tri-copter for vertical takeoff and landing ('VTOL') and a fixed-wing vehicle for forward flight. One rotor may be mounted at a front of the vehicle fuselage on a hinged structure controlled by an actuator to tilt from horizontal to vertical positions. Two additional rotors may be mounted on the horizontal surface of the vehicle tail structure with rotor axes oriented vertically to the fuselage. For forward flight of the vehicle, the front rotor may be rotated down such that the front rotor axis may be oriented horizontally along the fuselage and the front rotor may act as a propeller. For vertical flight, the front rotor may be rotated up such that the front rotor axis may be oriented vertically to the fuselage, while the tail rotors may be activated.

Tri-rotor aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing and transitioning to forward flight

Systems, methods, and devices are provided that combine an advance vehicle configuration, such as an advanced aircraft configuration, with the infusion of electric propulsion, thereby enabling a four times increase in range and endurance while maintaining a full vertical takeoff and landing ('VTOL') and hover capability for the vehicle. Embodiments may provide vehicles with both VTOL and cruise efficient capabilities without the use of ground infrastructure. An embodiment vehicle may comprise a wing configured to tilt through a range of motion, a first series of electric motors coupled to the wing and each configured to drive an associated wing propeller, a tail configured to tilt through the range of motion, a second series of electric motors coupled to the tail and each configured to drive an associated tail propeller, and an electric propulsion system connected to the first series of electric motors and the second series of electric motors.

Growing community of inventors

Yorktown, VA, United States of America

William Todd Hodges